One Night Only - Dingwalls

It's so nice to have One Night Only gigging again. I was really sceptical about their new stuff but it's all really grown on me and I can't stop singing it now.

I went to see them at Dingwalls on Thursday. We queued up for ages like losers and then it really didn't matter because for the first time ever we didn't try to get to the front but stood up on a second level....it was a good idea at the time but meant I got shit photos and the atmosphere wasn't as good up there. The crowd were shit. London normally really goes for it but I didn't recognise half the people there and it showed a lot of them weren't proper fans. Having said that we did see a few familiar faces which was so lovely and met a few fans that I've spoken to online. I also saw my mate Dougie who I forgot was a good friend of Andy Burrows, ex-Razorlight, now of I Am Arrows who were supporting and really really good.

One Night Only were great, a couple of the slower songs didn't go down as well but I think that's because people weren't hyped up to begin with. After the gig we acted like complete idiots and got our photos taken with George...which is always so weird because he knows us but I'm not going to stop now. I said, "can we be losers and have a photo?" he said, "are you ashamed to have your photo taken with me?" and I said, "no, obviously not!". He then asked how my fella was and asked about the wedding (I don't know how he knows I'm getting married), we had a little chat then gave me a hug goodbye. It was really sweet.

Photos.

Blackhole

Blackhole are my favourite band so far in 2010. We caught them supporting Gallows at Watford Colosseum and I was hooked immediately. Richard Carter certainly has his brother Frank's knack for frontmanship (is that a word? It is now) but the similarities between the bands pretty much stop there, other than they both play hardcore.

(Frank and Richard at Watford Colosseum)

When they announced they'd be supporting Underoath at KOKO I snapped up what must have been 2 of the last tickets as apparently the gig had been sold out for a while. It was an early start and due to the queue backing up onto our street (we live 1 minute from KOKO) we missed the first half of the first song but we got to the front and Blackhole smashed it! The crowd was terrible and full of what looked like 15 year olds who just didn't give a shit. Rich came into the crowd and tried to whip them up a bit...it worked for about 2 minutes but fair play to him for trying. That guy has no end of passion for his music and was going to prove it!

After their set me and Adam stocked up on merch. Please go buy some if you get the chance, they have the worlds best merch I swear (and of course buy their amazing album Dead Hearts). Then I acted all fangirl-like and asked Rich if I could get a photo with him. He was a sweetie and not only did I get a photo but he chatted with me and Adam for a bit. What a nice guy.

We are the Ocean were shit (I heard them described by more than one person as a poor man's Alexis on Fire) so we grabbed a drink and watched all the kids go mad for them then we left before Underoath even came on. I've never heard them and to honest, and this is probably bad of me to say, I really can't be arsed to even give them a try. Plus Christian rock really isn't my thing. But go check out Blackhole now!

My New Running Shoe

I've decided I can't afford the gym every month but I really do need to get fit. I luckily have Regents Park just 5 minutes up the road from me and the gloriously piss/vomit covered streets of Camden town at my disposal so I've decided to start running. I thought about running a while ago but it was cold then and I don't like the cold (I carry a hotwater bottle around work the way others carry notepads) but now the sun has come out I think I can handle being out in the open for more than 5 minutes without crying. Also, according to George Craig, it improves your skin, I have terrible skin so this is a huge bonus. Plus if he can run 30 miles in a week then I bloody well can, my thighs surely hold more power in them than his little sticks.

I'm not a jogging bottom and trainer kind of girl and never have been. Personally I think if you wear jogging bottoms in public you are officially classed as a chav. I don't want to be classed as a chav so I've been and bought some leggings. Leggings are surely the sports equivalent of the skinny jean. Right? I also asked Adam if I could run in Converse, he said no. Also I think running in my usual footwear would just look like me running around Regents Park randomly rather than me trying to get fit and I might look a bit mental (I run a bit weird) so I had to start the search for a trainer. What a nightmare. I don't wear leather and I only wanted black so my options were limited. I asked my Twitter followers for suggestions and received the grand total of zero replies. Bastards. Adidas, my sports brand of choice, was a dead end and so I moved on to Nike. Oh how I now love Nike. Not only did I find a trainer made of synthetic material but I also found out I could personalise them! I chose to make the whole trainer black apart from, and this is the best bit (or the most pathetic bit, you choose), I have a pink 'ONO' on the top of one tongue and a pink 'MCR' on the other tongue. I have to wait 28 days, which really does halt my fitness regime, but it's going to be so worth it. So very worth it. I'm sure I'll be able to run faster, get fitter and lose more weight just through having my favourite bands names embroidered on to my running shoe.

Here's a picture of what they should look like. I'm sure this image does them no justice as I can assure you they really will be the best trainers EVER!

Now where do I put my house keys and iPhone?

Soon To Be A Camdenite!

In less than a week I move to Camden. This has been a dream of mine for about 15 years and it's finally coming true. I can crawl out of bed and walk to work (10 minutes), drink in the Hawley every night if the fancy takes me (which I'm sure it will) and buy pink tutu's from the market to my hearts content. Unfortunately I first have to get through the stress of the move. We've been living in the words smallest flat surrounded by rather large boxes for weeks now. We have no sofa as we were running out of room to hold the boxes so we took it to the dump, this means sitting on rather horrible wooden chairs, not what you want after a long day at work.

I also had a rather strange girl knock on my door yesterday asking if this was the flat up for rent, when I said it was she asked to look around and promptly grabbed her mum and her nan, who had been hiding around the corner, and came in. Since, as previously mentioned, I live in the smallest flat in the world and it's full of boxes there was a moment of panic as I tried to fit them all in to my tiny bathroom. Suddenly I realised they weren't here with the landlord (my brother-in-law) and I'd usually be at work at this time of the day (I happened to have a hospital appointment so was working from home), so why the hell were they here? I had visions of being tied up as they pinched all my MCR merchandise, the nan stuffing my Gerard Way doll in her handbag, or the dim daughter stealing my prized "New Kids on the Block" vinyl and chillin' to "I'll be loving you forever" whilst I'm still bound to the radiator. I hurriedly got them out, they weren't impressed with the flat anyway, surprise surprise, and I called my brother-in-law. Turns out they were legit and were simply meant to be looking at the outside, they'd knocked on the off chance someone was in. Phew!

So now all I have to do is ditch my car (anyone want one for scrap?), call the utility companies and get through what may turn out to be the most stressful week of my life. Then the gigs start!!! "The Bronx", "General Fiasco" (with my mates band "Acacia Snow" as support - woo!, "Scarlet Harlots", "Gallows", more "Acacia Snow" and then Camden Crawl. I can't wait. If you see a tattooed, drunkard walking the streets of Camden over the next few months or slouched in the Snug at the Hawley it's not Ms Winehouse, it's moi!

Tommy Reilly at Proud

I'm a bit of a reality TV fan, at least I would be if I had the time to watch it nowadays. One show that I've been dipping in and out of is Orange unsignedAct. I like that the acts actually write their own stuff and seem to show some passion for music rather than fame, which is rare in reality TV. Don't get me wrong, talented people with some musical integrity do enter shows like The X Factor but we never get to see these artists truly shine on a show like that because they're singing songs chosen for them. Will Young has gone from strength to strength mainly because he showed a true talent on the show and then backed it up by writing his own material afterwards.

UnsignedAct showcases an artists full potential from the very start and I like that. One young man who has really done well this year is Tommy Reilly. He's a 19 year old Glaswegian with a very unique voice and singing style and an incredibly sweet character. This week I was lucky enough to meet Tommy at his gig at Proud in Camden and see him perform. Whether Tommy wins or not it doesn't matter, he a real star and is destined to succeed. He was extremely chatty, looked genuinely pleased to meet me and was hilarious in the most natural, interesting way. Telling me stories of his time working in Tesco (if you ever meet him ask him about Jaffa Cakes) and the manic pace of London that has him a little panicked. He was completely unfazed about performing and when it was time for him to take to the stage (at 11pm!) he was on great form both singing and chatting with the audience.

If you've not checked out unsignedAct this year then give it a watch this Sunday (there are three shows left) and take a looked here, there's definitely a nice mix of finalists this year. Here are a few photo's I took at the gig.

Goodbye 2008...

It's New Years day and I'm sick in bed debating whether to go to the doctors tomorrow or not...and I'm a little bored to be honest. I feel I've neglected my blog for a while so I'm going to try and get something down.

2008 was a good year for me, I'm not sure 2009 holds as much promise so far but then I am the worlds biggest pessimist so we'll see. "What was so great about 2008?" I hear you ask, well let me try to tell you.

First off things took off for me at work. I started at Band & Brown in September 2007 as an admin assistant and I can honestly say it was the best job I've ever had and I think I ever will have but in 2008 I got promoted to the CEO's Research Assistant, it was a huge leap for me and it's a role that has since opened a lot of doors for me and seen me take on yet another new role as a Project Manager for Brando Digital. After spending three and a half years in limbo living in Coventry and feeling I amounted to nothing 2008 really made me realize I could achieve something in my career. Plus I work in Camden which is home to me, I swear I spend more time there than I do in my own flat. On that note the Hawley Arms was rebuilt! After the terrible Camden fire in February the iconic pub's future was really uncertain but it reopened at the end of October and I couldn't be happier. All our friends are back and I can enjoy my favourite houmous and a pint of chips every lunch time again. I even managed to have my birthday party there and it was brilliant.

Secondly my favourite band, 'My Chemical Romance', had a quiet year for the most part which meant I had a lot of time to listen to new stuff. In April I found 'One Night Only'. Now I've said it before, they're not the best band in the world but they make me happy AND it's not just about them it's everything that goes with them. Through going to their gigs I've met some amazing people that I can't imagine my life without now. Friends that I now wouldn't dream of going to a gig without and that I spend hours talking to online and texting when I don't actually get to see them. I've also met friends that I can talk to about music and tattoos and share stuff with and I know they won't judge me, friends who have really inspired me and continue to try to introduce me to cool music. So through a band that nobody else seems to like I've really gained something in my life.

But I've not forgotten 'MCR' and I've had two new 'MCR' tattoos done this year that mean a lot to me. I think I'll write a post about the meaning of all my tattoos later but I just want to say that in a year where 'MCR' have been really quiet, doing their own personal stuff and just getting on with their lives they've still managed to be important to me, inspire me and keep me sane.

2008 saw some awesome films come out too. 'Dark Knight' was out of this world and I'm so gutted that we'll never get to see Heath Ledger play the Joker again. The Joker is the best villain ever...EVER, and I think I'll be getting a Joker/Harley Quinn tattoo at some point in the near future. 'Twilight' was cool too, although the books are a million times better. The film was a pretty honest adaptation and I think any flaws with this one will be ironed out in time for 'New Moon' which should be ace.

I never usually do new years resolutions but I think this year I may try. I'm going to try my hardest to move to Camden by April at the latest, this will give me more time to spend with my friends and loved ones rather than being sat on a train commuting. I'm going to lose a few pounds, the diet has started and my new tattoo on my ribs is the perfect excuse to get trim and toned for the Summer (not that I'll be flashing my ribs off, I stopped all that when I hit 21). I'm going to work my arse off at work to really try to prove myself and get the most out of having a career. Most importantly I'm going to stay true to myself this year, I'll stay the same little tattooed, pierced, obsessive little Camden freak that I've always been and not care what anyone thinks of me. Maybe 2009 won't be so bad after all.